




















GREETINGS
FROM JUPITER,
SPECIAL
NOTICE
If you are a sick person and just want to get a laugh
at my expense, you may want to jump down to the “The
trip” section of this Trackchaser Report.
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL
NEWS
The Strategy
Last spring
You can’t see seven races in a row and then take six
weeks off. You need to always be getting
a track or two as often as you can. This
consistency of purpose will reward the persistent and devoted trackchaser at
both yearend and career end. This is a
strategy I try to implement in my trackchasing efforts.
But, hey, couldn’t I at least take Super Bowl weekend
off? Actually Super Bowl Sunday ranks
right up there with Easter Sunday and Mother’s Day, as being a day when there
is just about no racing going on anywhere.
Actually, I was first attracted to trackchasing in
I was sitting in my office on Wednesday of this week,
just surfing track websites. I had long
had my eye on a Super Bowl Sunday date at a road course in
It was about this time that I discovered that a track
in the
Before I hit the “Purchase”
button, I made one last check on the
Nevertheless, I had the “Fever.” I had come so close to booking a trip that I
didn’t want to leave my office empty handed.
I noticed there were several tracks in
Have you even tried to fly to
I checked all of the airlines where I could use a
frequent flyer ticket (American, Frontier, Air Tran, Delta and United). I rarely use a frequent flyer ticket for any
of my personal travel. I prefer to shop
for cheap airfares, buy the ticket, earn the miles and then have the frequent
flyer tickets available for the family.
You would think that with six
Just as I was on my last possible airline, United, and
my last possible departure/arrival combination,
I was living up to the strategy that Roland and I had
discussed. I was doing a little
trackchasing all the time and that is a formula for trackchasing success. Now, it was time to break the new news to “Trackchasing’s First Mother!”
The People
Of course, all of you Trackchaser Report readers know
that “Trackchasing’s First Mother” lives in our
house and is of course my wife, Carol. Remember
she earned this nickname by being the first ever-listed trackchaser (www.trackchaser.com) who is also a
mother.
There is one good reason that I hold the title of “#1 ranked worldwide trackchaser while being married.” It’s helps to have a partner. Of course, several of our top-ranked
trackchasers are single, divorced or married later in life. I wonder how much trackchasing contributed to
all of that?
Nevertheless, I have the very best wife when it comes
to getting “permission” to go
trackchasing. Actually, I don’t need to
ask for permission, but I was raised the right way and ask for it anyway.
Carol told me that if I was out of the house for a
couple of days she could get her “Chores” done
since we were gone to
I am not in any way bragging about this fact. I am only telling you the truth, which
according to Trackchaser Report bylaws I am required to do. There are several reasons that I don’t do any
chores.
First, when we built our new house three years ago, we
designed the house so that the structure comes within five feet of all sides of
our property line. We have no lawn. I have not mowed a lawn since 1983. For some reason, I was never able to convince
Carol that she should mow the lawn. She
is not impressed when I tell her stories of seeing a significant number of
American ladies riding their lawn mowers as I travel the country’s back roads!
Carol does the more traditional “Women’s” work such as cooking and cleaning. I make this statement only because it is
true. Long ago, I selected only
Trackchaser Report readers who did not require a high level of political
correctness in reports like this.
You should know that I have volunteered to help with
the cooking and cleaning. This comment
should help with anyone who might have forgotten they do not require a high
degree of political correctness in their written communications as noted above.
Each time I have volunteered, Carol has rejected my
advances (we’re talking about cooking and cleaning here!) She either thinks I’m untrainable or doesn’t
want to give up control and possibly accept a “streamlined”
(my words) or “half-assed” (her words) effort. Actually, she never swears, another of her
virtues.
We’re currently working with a carpenter to build some
storage cabinets in our garage. Carol
and I are in a debate over whether or not we need a workbench. In most American families, if this debate
existed, I believe the man in the family would be pushing for the workbench and
the woman wouldn’t care. That’s not the
case in the Lewis family. I see no need
for a workbench whatsoever. I have only
used workbenches in the past to sit things on.
Once the workbench was fully saturated with things I didn’t want to put
away, it became useless. Carol says we
need a workbench. Therefore, we will
have a workbench. I didn’t get to be the
“#1 ranked worldwide trackchaser while being married” by
being stupid.
On my way out the door, I noticed a screwdriver and a
set of adjustable pliers lying on the floor.
I have no idea where these tools came from. I have no idea what their intended use is
for. That’s the way I want to keep it.
As I opened the garage door, a gust of wind blew my
hair askew. This reminded me that my
hair is so soft and manageable because we have a top of the line water
softener. I’m told that water softener
requires the lifting of 40-pound bags of rock salt to keep it going.
I personally have never put rock salt in the thing
although we have the softest water you can imagine. I can only guess that Carol is handling
this. Yes, she weighs just a smidgeon
over 100 pounds. You might think that
lifting a 40-pound bag of rock salt to a height of five feet would be a
difficult task for the person I so affectionately call a “Short little dreeb.”
It probably is. Nevertheless, I
smile and move on with the trip. That’s
why I send her to 24 Hour Family Fitness 5-6 days a week!
The trip
What a difference a week makes!! It was just a week ago Friday night that
Carol and I were dining with our great friends the Moodys at the noted Jake’s
Famous Crawfish seafood restaurant in
The first event of this weekend’s trackchasing trip
was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. The track was the
Normally, I leave
If I didn’t have to leave early, I wouldn’t! With a 1:30 p.m. LAX departure, I woke up and
did my normal aerobic and weight training workout. Carol went off to her normal 7:30 a.m.
aerobics class.
Following our workouts, we met at the El Jefe
(pronounced “hey-fey”) Cafe.
I had printed my boarding pass out before leaving
home. This is a great time saving
feature. With no checked baggage,
another time saving feature, I could bypass the check-in counter and go
directly to security. My flight was non-stop
to
Everything was going really well, except for one very
important aspect of the trip. When I
planned the trip on Wednesday, the rain forecast was at only 30%. In the world of rain forecasting, that’s
means there is very little chance of being bothered by the wet stuff. However, shortly after buying my
non-refundable airline ticket, the forecast changed. It was now an 80% chance of rain! This was a bad sign.
I landed in
It had rained here during the day. The further south I drove the heavier the
rain came down. I pulled out a 10-dollar
bill for the tolls. I wanted to see how
long that money would last. When I
ultimately pulled into the racetrack parking lot, I had 50 cents left from my
$10 toll budget! The
At about 10 p.m., I pulled up to a tollbooth to get a
toll ticket. I had not eaten since the
El Jefe Café. The tollbooth ticket
dispenser was a friendly Wilford Brimley looking character. I asked where I might get some late night
food. Twirling his mustache, he replied
with, “Well, you could risk going to the Burger King,
it’s about 7 miles down the road. I
wouldn’t do it. The first good
restaurant is a truck stop and it’s 84 miles down the road.” At 10 o’clock at night, I was not
going to drive another 84 miles for dinner.
I would take the risk at Burger King.
I believe Mr. Brimley was right! I have never seen a busier or worse run
Burger King in my life. The restaurant
was located at one of the service plazas along the toll way. When I approached the counter there were at
least 50 people in line being served by ONE CASHIER. Don’t get me started!
Burger King is not selling very many salads. I know because after waiting 15-20 minutes to
have my order taken and another 15-20 minutes to get my food, my salad order
was the only one I saw dispensed.
Just think, one week ago I was eating in one of the
better seafood restaurants in the entire country. Tonight, it looked like the state prison was
serving food on Tuesday burger night. Maybe
Carol was left home to do our household chores, but at least when she goes on a
trackchasing trip, everything gets upgraded.
Soon I was back on the turnpike. I had planned to stay at a Motel 6 in
After driving through some heavy rain, I was soon in
You may recall this is where I ended up paying $100
for five gallons of gasoline from a local cabbie. I’ve never been more pleased to make a
purchase in my life as Carol and I were struggling to make a cruise ship in
Now as I drove through
It was now past midnight. I didn’t like the memory of that Days Inn
even though they advertised, “Recently renovated.” I knew why too! I would drive a little further and try to
find a better place.
Suffice it to say, I never found another hotel before
I reached the racetrack. Even though I
had the track’s website driving instructions, given from three different
directions, I had some difficulty finding the track. The directions made sense after I finally
reached the track. However, there is
usually a learning curve that must be rounded in unfamiliar territory. A Pratt and Whitney plant security guard finally
got me on the right path to the track that was just a few hundred yards from
his “Plant protection” shack.
It was now 1 a.m.
The first race started in nine hours.
This was a rural area. I had not
seen any hotels for the last 30 miles. I
was about ready to do the unthinkable.
What was that? Sleep in my car!
In trackchasing my seeing 182 tracks last year in one
season was a pretty big deal. I’m hear
to tell you that feat doesn’t hold a candle to all of the trackchasers who
sleep in their cars nearly every night they go trackchasing. I average sleeping in my car about one night
per year. I only do this when I am
forced too.
At 1 a.m., there was no people activity at the
track. It was raining hard. As I pulled into the track’s camping area, I
was greeted by two signs. The first sign
read, “Camping at your own risk.” What did that mean? The second sign read, “Camping - $15, pay at track office.” We’d deal with that one in the morning.
The National Rental Car Racing
At 6 foot 3 inches tall, and tipping the scale at 231
pounds, I found my accommodations a bit on the cramped side. I actually had four different sleeping
options in this
My first choice was to recline the driver’s seat. This wasn’t that comfortable and the steering
wheel seemed to get in the way. After
about 10 minutes of tossing and twisting, I discovered there aren’t enough soft
spots in a
I eyed the back seat.
It was a struggle to move my luggage from the rear seat to the front
with me still in the front seat! I
couldn’t go outside because it was pouring rain. Finally, with only a few pulled muscles, I
made it to the back seat and my luggage was now in the front seat. Hey, this would make a great TV show.
Did you know that a
There were only two options left, the front passenger
seat and the trunk. I really had my eye
on the trunk. However, I was afraid I
might suffocate and never live to pass any of those pesky East coast
trackchasers who remain above me in the worldwide trackchasing standings.
I chose the right passenger seat. This seemed like the best of my options. It’s where I spent the next six hours. Like I said, the
I had a phone in the car just like the Marriott. I had a 360-degree view from my “room” which was actually better than the
Marriott. Carol had stuffed three Rice
Krispie squares in my luggage so I had my version of “Room
service.” I even had a
bathroom. O.K., maybe it’s not your idea
of a bathroom, but a Burger King small drink cup works for me, especially when
it’s pouring rain outside. It definitely
gives new meaning to the phrase, “I had to get up in
the middle of the night and go to the bathroom!”
Have you ever been in a tin can, when it’s raining
hard outside? Me neither, but sitting in
a Pontiac Gran Prix, in the dark, in a rain swollen parking lot, while it pours
down rain, is about as close as you’re going to get to the real tin can
experience.
Road course racing almost never rains out in the
At about 7 a.m., a car pulled up and parked beside
me. Were they coming to collect their
$15. No, it was just the beginning of
race morning traffic. I leaned forward
with a noticeably sore neck that hadn’t been that way the night before. I peered out the window to see the welcome
sight of several racecars waiting in line to check in. The rain had stopped. The clouds were starting to dissipate. It looked like they would be racing after all.
With a wallet now overflowing with cash, due to having
no hotel expense, I began the day in search of my 997th lifetime
track. Like I always say, “Trackchasing doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.”
RACE
TRACK STATS:
This
RACE
TRACK NEWS:
Here is a quick blurb about the racetrack from the
Moroso website (http://www.morosomotorsportspark.com)
“
Today’s event was sanctioned by the
The great thing about this race is that it was
scheduled to start at 10 a.m. That meant
I could easily get up to St. Lucie
Because I slept at the track, it was very easy to make
the morning commute for this earlier than normal starting time. On my walk to the ticket window from the car,
I encountered these signs, “Beware of Alligators”,
“Camping at your own risk,” and, next to a
picture of some attack dogs, “These dogs can run
faster than you can!”
At the ticket window, I was asked if I was a member of
the SCCA. I told them I was not (and I
never have been). The woman then said, “That will be $100.”
I really don’t know if she was kidding or not. I didn’t wait to find out. After some brief, but rapid and compelling
discussions, I was being admitted as a member of the press. They even gave me a dorky orange vest like
highway workers use and strongly recommended I wear it. Since no one else had one of these vests, I
stuffed it in my cameral bag and returned it to the main office upon my exit.
As mentioned, it had rained all night. I entered the track about 9 a.m. By this time there were actually some patches
of blue starting to show up in the sky above.
That would not last long.
I took a brief tour of the paddock area. There were 40-50 cars at Moroso today. The biggest class was Group 2. I would be watching these Corvettes and
Miatas and the like race a two-hour enduro.
During the last practice session and before the start
of the enduro a huge black cloud made its appearance on the horizon. This black cloud covered about 150 degrees of
the entire sky. It was massive and dark. It was also moving very fast. I videotaped the cloud’s movement. It may have been the fastest moving cloud
formation I have ever seen.
At first the black cloud came overhead and nothing
much happened. Then the wind started to
pickup and then it started to rain. This
was a “Noah, go get the ark” type of rain. The cars that were on the track for their
practice session continued to race like there was no water at all. I have never in all of my trackchasing days
seen it rain this hard and the cars kept racing. It was raining like proverbial cats and dogs
and some of the cats and dogs were coming down sideways.
After it had been raining like this for nearly 30
minutes with no more cars of the track, the announcer came over the public
address system with this, “Group 2 participants, Group
2 participants, your race has been…………(Please, don’t say cancelled!) shortened
from two hours to one hour and 30 minutes.” I let out an audible gasp. I still had a chance at my 997th
career track.
I had been talking to one of today’s drivers while we
waited for the first race to begin. The
fella I was talking to would be co-driving with his brother in one of the
Miatas in today’s two-hour enduro race.
This guy was relatively young and had retired in 1999 after selling his
medical company. His brother was in the
racing business and sold SCCA type racecars.
You could tell this was one of the high dollar teams from the looks of
their semi-trailer racecar hauler.
I learned a lot about sports car racing from this
driver. He told me it runs him about
$3,000 per weekend to race with the SCCA.
I was surprised it was that expensive.
He said an aspiring driver could rent a car from his brother for about
$3,500 per weekend. The entry fee per
weekend runs around $500. That seemed
gigantically high as well considering these racers do not race for prize money.
He told me they commonly raced in rain like we were
having today. He did say that if there were
any indication of lightning the organizers would cancel the race. The lightning was not a problem for the racers,
but was too dangerous for the corner workers.
That made sense. It was an
interesting conversation with this gentleman.
I learned a lot about SCCA road racing.
The race started an hour and 15 minutes late. That’s almost unheard of in SCCA racing. It rained hard from 10 a.m. until the race
ended at nearly 1 p.m. At some points on
the track more than half the racing surface was covered with standing
water. The puddle spray the cars created
was sometimes 30 or 40 feet high.
The rain was heavy.
I had left my umbrella in the car as an efficiency measure. Therefore, I stayed in the covered overhead
spectator bridge for the entire race. I
could just about see all the action from this elevation. They had a couple of yellow flags for
spinners that slowed the racing. I’m
guessing the cars ran 25-35 laps during the 90-minute race.
Last week we spent the entire weekend in rain in
RENTAL CAR
UPDATE:
I’ll be motoring around on this trip with the National
Rental Car Racing
LIFETIME
TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:
These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks
(plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total.
1. Rick
Schneider –
2. Allan Brown,
3. Any Sivi,
4. Guy Smith,
Effort,
5.
Randy Lewis,
6. Gordon
Killian, Sinking Spring,
Other notables
41. Andy
Ritter,
42. Colin
Casserly,
42.
Carol Lewis,
44. Bernie
Harlen,
2006
TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
1. Randy Lewis,
2. Roger
Ferrell,
2. Ed Esser,
4. Gordon
Killian, Sinking Springs,
5.
Carol Lewis,
5. Guy Smith,
Effort,
5. Will White,
5. Rick Young,
9. Several
trackchasers – 1
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
Trackchasing’s #1 trackchaser of the 21st
century
Trackchasing doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.
CUMULATIVE TRAVEL
DISTANCES:
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – Orlando, FL – 2,210 miles
RENTAL CAR
Jupiter,
TRACK
ADMSSION PRICES:
Some of my
standings data comes from trackchaser.com
St. Lucie
992. Watermelon
Capital
993. Cross Roads
Motorplex (asphalt oval), Jasper,
994.
995. Qualcomm
Stadium,
996.
997.